R Praggnanandhaa Goes Down To Fabiano Caruana, All But Out Of Super Chess Classic Race

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa suffered his first defeat in the Super Chess Classic, losing to Fabiano Caruana of the United States in a dramatic seventh round of the Grand Chess Tour event.

On a day when Jorden Van Foreest of Holland benefited from the withdrawal of Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, world championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan defeated overnight leader Vincent Keymer of Germany.

With two rounds still remaining, Keymer was joined at the top of the standings by Van Foreest and Caruana, all on 4.5 points, while Anish Giri of Holland now trails the leading trio by half a point.

Praggnanandhaa remained on 3.5 points, along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Wesley So of the United States and Sindarov. Deac Bogdan-Daniel

stands on 2.5 points.

How R Praggnanandhaa Lost?

R Praggnanandhaa’s first loss of the tournament has almost knocked him out of contention for a top finish. The Indian opened with the Queen’s pawn and faced the fashionable Ragozin variation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined.

Aware that a victory was necessary to remain in the title race, Praggnanandhaa steered the game into a highly complex middlegame, but Caruana handled the ensuing tactics with apparent ease.

Playing with great precision, the top-seeded American found resourceful moves that put the Indian on the back foot, before launching a decisive attack on the white king that could not be repelled. The game lasted just 33 moves.

Sindarov outplayed Keymer in another Queen’s pawn game of the day, this time with the white pieces.

Keymer was out of sorts in this encounter, failing to achieve the desired counterplay after sacrificing a pawn. Sindarov quickly capitalised on the chances offered in the middlegame and cruised to victory in 40 moves.

With a total prize pool of USD 375000, including USD 100000 for the winner, there remains some chance that Praggnanandhaa can still finish on the podium, but the battle for the title now appears to be among the top four in the standings.

Results after round 7:

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 3.5) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 2.5); R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 3.5) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4.5); Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 3.5) beat Vincent Keymer (GER, 4.5); Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 1) gave a walkover to Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 4.5); Anish Giri (NED, 3) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3.5).

(With inputs from Agencies)